Secrets of the Sisterhood
by R. K. Sprague
Summary: Sherlock and John have gone to America to retrieve their companion, Zoey, who is visiting her family. While there, tragedy forces Sherlock and John to stay and help Zoey rescue her sisters from an unknown threat. Continuation of Sherlock's Heart and Mind.
1. Rachel

Chapter One: Rachel 

I was tired, no doubt jet lagged from our flight and constant travel ever since we landed in the States. Sherlock had been relentless in his search for something he still had yet to reveal although the answer wasn't that hard to fathom, seeing as how we were in Montana. A rather obscure holiday travel location for most people. There was only one answer for his present mission.

"Sherlock, she did say she would return. I don't see why you're rushing around the world in order to bring her back. At this point in time it would be against her will." I yawned and rubbed my eyes as we walked down the sidewalk of the city's downtown. There was a church service getting out ahead of us and I stepped to the side to avoid most of the crowd.

"Strange. Don't you agree, John?" Sherlock asked; stopping and observing the people filing out of the doors and down the stairs.

"No, I don't." I replied, stopping and looking back at him. "Sherlock, Zoey left for her own reasons. She's a grown woman and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She needed time to rest and recover so she figured it was the perfect excuse to come home and spend time with her family. I find nothing strange about that at all. It's perfectly normal."

"While I appreciate your concern for both Zoey and myself, that was not the subject to which I was referring to. Observe." Sherlock motioned towards the crowd.

A majority of the service attendees were standing on the sidewalk or stairs conversing in rather hushed tones. I was about to question Sherlock's interest in this specific group when I remembered that today was a Friday, not a Sunday. This eliminated the likelihood of a normal sermon. Upon further inspection I realized that most of the church goers were either dressed professionally in dark colors, or wearing black. Several were crying while being consoled.

"A funeral…" I said quietly. "Sherlock, we really shouldn't hang around when we are uninvited. It's quite rude to attend the funeral of complete strangers." I went to walk around the group on the sidewalk when Sherlock grabbed my arm to stop me.

As I turned to scold him I realized his eyes were locked upon the top of the stairs by the open doors. Just inside the foyer I saw a group of young women looking at a portrait that was propped up, surrounded by flower wreathes. The woman in the frame was quite young, in her early twenties most likely. It appeared to have been taken at some sort of party as she was dressed in nice casual clothes, her red hair pulled back into a ponytail and curled slightly. She had a beautiful smile, genuinely laughing in the snapshot.

"She was so young…" I mused as the girls surrounding the frame turned to leave. One of them was crying rather hard, the tears streaming down her flushed cheeks only to be wiped away by the friend beside her. It wasn't until I heard a familiar voice that I realized exactly why Sherlock had stayed for so long.

"I'm so sorry, Ana." The blonde said as she tucked a strand of light brown hair behind her sister's ear. "I know it's hard, and I'm sorry all this happened…"

Ana sobbed, attempting to dry her own eyes in vain. "They don't even know what happened! She was fine when I left the dorm to get snacks. But when I came back…"

"I know you two were close." The elder girl rubbed Ana's back in comfort, trying to usher her out of the building in an attempt to get her away from the source of her trouble. "She was like a sister to me too…"

The taller girl looked over and wiped her eyes once more, sniffing. "I'm glad you could come, Zoey."

Zoey turned to go down the steps when she looked up and froze, hand still on Ana's back. Her sister stopped as well and looked at Zoey for a moment to follow her line of sight. Once she spotted Sherlock and I, the younger McCarron's eyes lit up slightly.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?"

"He is NOT my…" Zoey responded firmly only to be ignored as the youngest of the McCarron's both took off down the stairs once the two boys also became aware of our presence.

"Sherly!" Kayden squealed as he missed the last two stairs in his haste, leaping over them without missing a beat. His short brown hair was as disheveled as his clothes as he slammed into Sherlock's leg, wrapping around it.

Ian was not far behind as he grabbed onto Sherlock's arm. "Sherlock! You're here!" His blue eyes sparkled in the April sun along with his golden hair.

Sherlock appeared a bit uncomfortable with all the sudden affection but managed to pry his arm and leg free and smirk at Zoey who appeared rather flustered. "I must say, I didn't expect to run into you so soon. I had expected to find you quickly but I had imagined the circumstances of our encounter to be quite different."

"Crashing a funeral is not very tasteful, Sherlock." Zoey grumbled, crossing her arms.

"To be fair, we didn't 'crash' it. We merely were passing by and happened to cross paths at the same place in time." Sherlock corrected, receiving a rather annoyed look from Zoey.

"You still shouldn't be here." She huffed as she rubbed her wrist. I noticed that is was currently not in the sling but seeing as how her wrist was the location of the injury, as long as she didn't do anything to strain it, it would be fine. She shook her head and turned to me. "Got dragged along, did you, John?"

"Yes, but I suspect it's better than allowing him to run around America unsupervised." I managed to get a smile out of her and turned to her sister. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Ana's eyes welled up once more and nodded. Sherlock, however did not have the tact for this sort of situation.

"I overheard you say that they didn't know what killed her." He said rather matter-of-factly, crossing his arms as Kayden locked himself around his leg once more. Ian looked over at Ana and walked over to her, hugging her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Yeah," Zoey spoke for her as Ana turned to Danni who had come to join her siblings, unknowingly becoming the shoulder to cry on as her elder sister lost it and burst into tears. "It all happened suddenly."

"I was only gone for an hour!" Ana hiccupped as Danni patted her back.

"Interesting. Care to tell me what exactly happened?"

Ana sniffed, trying to calm herself enough to talk. "W-we were going to watch a movie. Like every Tuesday night… It's the only night we usually don't have a lot of homework." Sherlock nodded and waited for her to continue. "We were out of popcorn, so I said I would go get some and pick up a movie if she ordered the pizza. She was fine when I left…."

"What happened when you returned?" I asked before Sherlock could manage. He shot me a rather irritated look but didn't say anything.

"That's just it… Nothing out of the ordinary happened. At least, aside from Rachel… not that I noticed. She was so sick…"

"Had she eaten anything different that day?" Sherlock inquired, making Ana shake her head.

"No. We had eaten the same things all day. We both missed breakfast and went out for lunch at the same place."

"What happened when you got back?" Sherlock asked again, seeming more intrigued now.

"The door was closed and locked. Just the way I had left it. But when I walked in, the room was trashed. The blankets were thrown off the bed and books were off the shelves. Shoes were thrown about the room and Rachel was in the middle of the room." Ana paused, shaking now and growing quiet as she tried not to sob once more. "I could tell she had thrown up and she looked as if she was seizing… I went to call 911 as I ran to help her but…"

"There was nothing you could do." Sherlock finished her thought. He had done so in a tone that sounded as if he were stating the obvious. It seemed rather cold and from Zoey's expression, she felt the same way.

"It was so strange… She just kept looking at me with the blackest eyes I've ever seen. It was as if her whole iris was gone…"

"They were dilated." He said sounding bored, almost embarrassed that she hadn't known that. I saw Zoey's face twist slightly. No doubt she was biting the inside of her cheek to let her sister finish.

"I guess so…" Ana mumbled. "But she managed to talk to me before she…" Ana drifted off and Sherlock pushed her more.

"Go on."

She looked down at her hands as she remembered her friend's last words. "She said… 'The little living plumb, Ana! The plumb!' Strange words to say as you're dying but I expect she was hallucinating…"

"Or somehow she was giving you a clue to her killer." Sherlock said as Mr. McCarron walked over to his children.

"Killer you say?" The tall dark haired man raised a brow at Sherlock. Obviously intrigued and confused my Sherlock's conclusion. "The assumption until now had been some kind of allergic reaction."

"Once the autopsy reports are run, they will confirm my deduction. Somehow," He turned to the three girls watching him intently. Ana's eyes welling over with tears, Danni trying to calm them, and Zoey keeping an eye on him so as not to further upset her sister. "Your friend, Rachel, was somehow poisoned."


	2. Changing

Chapter Two: Changing

"Poisoned?" Mr. McCarron asked. "Wait now, how can you be sure it was poison?"

I was pleasantly surprised by Zoey's father. He was a stern looking man but had gentle eyes, showing his true temperament. Most would be intimidated by his size but Sherlock matched him, both making the other seem less foreboding.

"But Sherlock," Zoey piped up. "Isn't an allergic reaction a type of poisoning?"

He paused for a moment before he responded to the girl who was, no doubt, trying to get a rise out of him. "In a sense, yes. A foreign entity enters the body and it responds in a negative manner. However, I am talking about literal poison and not just peanuts."

"She wasn't allergic to peanuts." Ana sniffed, making Sherlock roll his eyes.

"It was an example." He huffed, making Zoey smirk. No doubt his frustration was a small victory and a sort of payback for his unexpected arrival. As Sherlock opened his mouth to explain himself further, Zoey stopped him.

"As fascinating as all your little crime facts are, now is not the time to share them. We need time to wind down from this afternoon. We can meet up with you later, okay?"

"Zoey, a crime was committed that hit very close to home for you, I would expect you of all people to want this solved as soon as possible." Sherlock replied simply, giving her a rather cocky look. He was pushing her buttons now. It probably had to do with the fact that we had just flown halfway around the world for a reason still unknown to me and he was bored. However, I had a feeling she had something to do with it.

"Don't even go there, Sherlock." Zoey growled in an obviously annoyed tone. "Give me three hours to get home and change and cool down, okay? Then I will willingly be dragged about on another one of your excursions. Lord knows someone needs to keep you on a leash." She looked at me this time, a slightly apologetic look in her eyes. No doubt she knew I did the best I could, but she also knew he was impossible at times so the more people to rein him in, especially in a foreign country, the better.

"Fine then, three hours." Sherlock agreed a slight smirk across his face which worried me some.

In exactly three hours, Ana was opening the door of their home. Zoey was sitting on the kitchen counter in a purple hoodie and blue sweats with her hair pulled quickly back, eating a bowl of cereal . "How the hell?" She exclaimed after nearly choking on the rainbow loops.

"Phonebook." Sherlock said as he glanced down at his phone and made a slight face of disapproval. "And these web directions are off. It's 3.6 miles from Broade street, not 3.5."

"What are you doing here?" She jumped off the counter onto the hardwood floor. she landed quieter than I would have thought until I noticed she was barefoot.

"We've come to pick you up and investigate." Sherlock said as if it were obvious. "You said three hours and, seeing as how you never specified a meeting place…"

"This is stalking, Sherlock." Zoey sighed as she pulled out her hair tie, combing her fingers through her hair.

Ana was standing by the door still, looking between the two of them. She glanced over at me and grinned knowingly.

"No it isn't. It's simple assumption as to where you would be at this time so we could get back to work."

"I'm not ready to go tromping about the city with you looking like this!" Zoey said, gesturing to her sweats. In all honesty, she seemed perfectly fine to me.

"I've noticed how you Americans dress, Zoey. You still look young enough to fit into a college campus setting and with how I've observed most university students dress, you won't stand out at all."

"If that's the case then," Zoey yanked off Sherlock's scarf and then pulled at his overcoat. "You need to blend in as well. As if your accent isn't enough of an attention grabber, your style definitely will. John, lose the jumper."

Ana jumped slightly at that and looked at me. "But, he's not wearing a dress…"

"His sweater, Ana." Zoey sighed and shook her head. As if trying to teach us American terms and traditions wasn't hard enough, she now had to teach her family as well. "Dad! Sherlock and John are here. Do you have anything to wear that they could borrow?" She called out.

"Hold on, I'll check." Came a response from above us.

After a moment we heard a thundering noise coming from upstairs an instant before the two young boys appeared. Ian leapt down the stairs, taking two at a time while Kayden scrambled to keep up, racing his brother to greet us.

Correction. To greet Sherlock.

"Sherly!" Kayden squealed as he jumped off the last four steps, nearly tumbling onto his face before he recovered and latched onto Sherlock's waist. "You came to see us!"

"Are you going to play detective with Zoey?" Ian asked, a grin plastered to his face with excitement.

"He doesn't play detective," I said with a smile as I pulled off my jumper and handed it to Zoey. "He is one. Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" The two boys answered at once. That managed to get a smile out of Zoey as she looked at them and then me.

"I think you're actually fine, John. No jumper did the trick." She spun and tossed Sherlock's scarf onto the couch. "You, however, stand out a bit too much. No one around here wears a suit for casual occasions. Especially in college."

"What do you propose then?" Sherlock asked, crossing his arms

"A t-shirt and jeans."

"Dull. Typical." He sighed and was nearly hit in the face with the clothes Mr. McCarron tossed at him.

"Here you go." Mr. McCarron said with a smile. "Try those on for size."

"Thanks, Dad." Zoey grinned as Sherlock sighed and started taking off his jacket. Zoey's eyes suddenly widened when Ana nudged her and made a low growling noise. "Not in here! Change somewhere else!"

"You can use my room." Kayden offered as he ran up a couple of stairs before looking over his shoulder. "This way."

I stood in the main room with the majority of Zoey's family as Edwin, her father, started conversation and Kayden came down the stairs after leading Sherlock to his bedroom. His small face was beaming with pride. Zoey had followed them upstairs to see if she couldn't find a back up shirt in case the first one didn't fit Sherlock right off.

Two light knocks were heard at the top of the stairs as she rapped on the door. "Sherlock?" I heard the handle turn as she opened it. "Try this one if that one doesn't- OH, BALLS!" All heads turned to look in the direction of the stairs as Zoey exclaimed and slammed the door again, scolding him from the hallway. " Sherlock! Why didn't you tell me you were still changing?"

"We lived in the same flat for several weeks, Zoey." Came a slightly muffled reply through the closed door.

Ana was standing behind Zoey now, having run up the stairs with me when she had yelled. Zoey's face flushed as Ana raised a brow.

"Lived together?"

"It wasn't like that! It was a job assignment."

Sherlock opened the door, wearing a navy tshirt and blue jeans. The casual look was strange to see on him, yet it managed to look natural at the same time. "Come now, Zoey, we raised a child together."

I thought I saw Zoey falter just for a moment as she eyed Sherlock but she did quite well hiding her true reaction. "We didn't raise him." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice as she remembered Ben. "We took care of him."

"You were my wife. I gave you a ring." He smirked, enjoying the female reactions before him. Zoey flinched, her face turning red fairly quickly as her fists clenched. It was more than embarrassment I was seeing. What it truly was, however, I couldn't quite identify. Ana let out a shocked squeal and grabbed Zoey by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Wife? Ring?"

"It was for a job!" Zoey shouted as she broke free of her sister and stepped back to look at both of them. "It was an act, Ana. We weren't really married. I gave the ring back…" Her voice grew slightly softer when she said that bit. I wondered if Sherlock caught that. "And we never did anything while we were living together!"

"You know…" She turned around and headed for the stairs, stopping when Sherlock piped up. He was now leaning against the doorframe, examining a rocket shaped sticker on the door. "You walked in on me from behind… What you exclaimed was incorrect. You were actually looking at my arse."


	3. Investigation

Chapter Three: Investigation

"I will kick your arse if you don't behave!" Zoey shot back as she stomped down the stairs. Sherlock merely watched her descend, his face serious but eyes unreadable.

"What happened while she was in London?" Ana asked me as we headed downstairs as well.

"I don't think it's my place to say since it's your sister's business."

"But you were there with her, right?"

"It's still not my place." I replied as we reached the bottom and Zoey held up her keys.

"Come on guys. Let's get it over with. I know a lot of people won't really want to answer questions on Rachel, given the circumstances, but we need to find out what we can." I could tell she was back in her Scotland Yard state of mind. She was thinking like a cop, and if I knew how that area of her mind tended to work when she needed it to, she was also going to start thinking a bit like Sherlock.

We pulled up to the college in an inconspicuous minivan, due to the fact that Danni wanted to tag along so she could fetch some stuff from her dorm and Zoey felt bad making us all squish together in another car. Sherlock had sat in the front next to her since he needed the most leg room. They had fought over the radio the whole way. Ana and I sat behind them, just observing. She found it amusing while I felt like I was watching Sherlock and Mycroft together. Danni sat behind us listening to her ipod without a care either way.

The campus was rather pleasant. Students walked to and from their dorms while others just sat in the warm spring sun. They were obviously enjoying the little time they had off for the weekend as much as possible. There were trees planted here and there giving the perfect amount of shade and beauty. The buildings were all brick and no more than two stories tall. It was cozy.

As we entered the lounge area filled with couches, tables, and even a fireplace, Zoey suddenly froze when we all heard a whistle. "Oh no…"

She quickly ducked and spun, avoiding a girl who leapt over a nearby couch attempting to tackle her. "Zo!"

"Lily…" Zoey sighed as she stood upright once more, looking at the short haired brunette who had almost taken her out.

"You're back! When did you get back? Are you happy to be back? What happened to your arm? Why didn't you call and say you were back? Who are they? Are they English? Are you dating one of them? If so, since when? Have you—" Zoey's hand locked over Lily's mouth as I looked over at Sherlock. From the look on his face I gathered he was wondering the same thing I was: didn't that girl need to breathe while talking?

Zoey then did something extraordinary. She answered every question in order. "Few days ago. Yes. Got shot. Didn't have time. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Yes. No, I'm not." She remained serious but her eyes smiled for her, showing her true feelings about encountering her old friend.

Lily looked over at us and waved then started mumbling under Zoey's hand and using large arm movements until she was released. "You were shot? Why? Why are the two Brits here? Do you like either of them?"

Zoey shot her a look, making her shut up as Ana and Danni stayed behind us laughing. They were apparently used to these sorts of antics.

"I was doing my job and a suspect decided not to play nice." She said as she rubbed her wrist. She had used it to cover Lily's mouth and the sudden action had probably aggravated it. "And they're here to help me. You heard about Rachel, right?"

"Yeah, everyone has." Lily nodded, folding her hands behind her head. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Yes I did." Zoey said as she grabbed one of my arms and one of Sherlock's. "Come along boys, there's a mystery calling."

"A mystery? Oooh! Can I come?" Lily asked as she threw her arms around Zoey from behind.

"No. Go… Hang out with Danni or something. She came to get something from her dorm. WE actually have WORK to do."

"Threesome?" Lily purred, making Zoey clench her teeth so suddenly I heard them click.

"NO. I am not having a threesome with them. They are helping me. Lily! Please!" Zoey begged, causing Sherlock to pull the smaller girl off of her.

"If you will excuse us, miss, we do have some business to attend to and it is rather urgent. We would be most grateful if you obliged us by complying with Miss McCarron's request." Sherlock said calmly, hands still on Lily's shoulders as he turned the girl to face him. His voice was soft and almost resembled a purr. Lily just stared, wide eyed and nodded, causing Sherlock to smile for an instant before returning to his usual brooding manner and walking off. "Right… Dorm room is this way?"

Lily nodded and Zoey continued standing beside her, somewhat fixated on Sherlock as he walked away.

"Good god, that man can growl." Lily mumbled as she nudged Zoey. "So… you and him?"

"No."

"But you lived together…" Ana started, stopping when Zoey shot her a look.

"You what? And… but… why? He has the voice and… He's English!" Lily complained, trying to

understand how Zoey could turn that down; wondering what happened. "He looks like the kind of guy you'd go perfectly with…" From the look on Zoey's face, there was a lot she wasn't telling Ana or Lily. There was a lot she wasn't telling anyone. She had a look that reminded me of him.

"Go with Danni." Zoey said, shaking her head and heading after Sherlock, jogging to pass him and lead him to the correct room. I followed; looking over at Lily who pouted then went with Danni like she was told.

"So, how are you two friends?" I asked as I leaned against the doorframe of Ana and Rachel's dorm room. It was left just the way the police had left it after investigating. It was still a mess but Sherlock was complaining on how they cleaned up and ruined everything for him as he lifted the covers and looked under the bed.

"I knew her when she was in high school. She was in Danni's class and I helped out there for a time as a tutor." She sat on the bed with her legs crossed, watching Sherlock as he crawled around on the floor nearby. "She's almost like another sister to me in an annoying, hyper, I want to punch her sort of way."

Sherlock stood up and looked around the room, hands on his hips. "Well, the police sure did a fine job as ever eliminating any potential evidence left behind."

"If they took it, they were doing their job." Zoey rolled her eyes.

Ana still refused to enter the room as she stood just behind me in the hallway watching. Her eyes moved slowly around the room, landing on a small patch of brown in the carpet. I walked over to it and scratched it.

"Sherlock, it's blood."

"Not surprising…" Ana said quietly. "There was broken glass…"

Sherlock was beside me in an instant. "Yes, but there was no blood on the glass. She must have received the injury some other way."

"How?" Zoey asked, jumping off the bed and kneeling beside us. "There's nothing else that she could have…" She looked at Sherlock who was staring intently at her. "What?"

"Don't move." He said quietly as he reached out and his fingers moved along her thigh for an instant, stopping to pluck something off of her sweatpants. He lifted it to eye level, squinting at what looked like a tiny prickly twig. "Interesting."

"What is that?" Ana asked, leaning into the room slightly.

"A clue. Now that we actually found something of importance, is there anyone we should talk to? Was anyone angry at her or holding a grudge?"

"I don't think so…" Ana mumbled. "But… her teachers might. We didn't discuss classes much. Only interesting stuff like boys…"

Both Sherlock and Zoey rolled their eyes in unison as we all got up. "Well then," Sherlock huffed, "Although this next bit may seem dull to you in comparison to the opposite sex, we will go and interrogate the professors."


	4. Conversations

Chapter Four: Conversations

The rest of the day went by slowly and our efforts were fruitless. According to Rachel's teachers, she was a wonderful student who very rarely had problems with her assignments and got along with everyone she was teamed up with on projects. We did, however, learn that she and Ana had been butting heads with some sorority members and had ruffled a few feathers in that house. Sherlock apparently found this important as he headed out of Rachel's math instructor's office quickly, Zoey and I in tow.

"What did you learn?" Ana asked as Sherlock walked past her in the hallway.

I was a bit surprised at Analise's personality. She had been so forward and outgoing when it came to Zoey's potential love life and everything else, however, around the campus she was quiet and almost appeared numb. I assumed it had to do with the Rachel incident and being at school only reminded her of what she had witnessed.

"That you and Rachel were causing problems with a sorority." Zoey said as she gave her sister a look that appeared to be a cross between the adult scolding and proud sisterly approval. "Apparently you two openly called them out on how they were treating underclassmen in front of the Dean."

Sherlock looked back at them just in time to see Zoey high five Ana despite her rather cold tone of voice. "While female social interactions can be intriguing at times and much can be observed, they had nothing to do with Rachel's death."

"What do you mean they had nothing to do with it?" Ana, who I guessed had been pleased that there might have been a lead and a possible connection to her enemies. "They stated that we were going to get it. They even sent Rachel a threatening e-mail…"

"Seems like probable cause to consider them as suspects to me." Zoey agreed, earning a disappointed and frustrated look from Sherlock.

"Threatening, yes. Deadly, I highly doubt it. The types of girls you are dealing with are more out for social devastation rather than blood."

Zoey paused and thought about it before she looked at Ana. "He does have a point. They wouldn't dirty their hands with something like that. If it did come back to them, their whole image would be ruined. However, if they do something to ruin her reputation; its no skin off their back."

"Because they do that sort of stuff anyway." Ana finished, causing Sherlock to nod.

"You girls are all about drama." I sighed, rubbing my neck and earning a grin from Zoey.

"You have no idea what kind of drama women are capable of. Trust me."

"Zoey doesn't like drama, though." Ana teased, nudging her sister. "Its why she's avoided men whenever possible. Although a few weeks ago you seemed rather cozy with Sherlock over there." I saw him glance over at the two girls as Zoey became flustered.

"We were not 'cozy', we were working on a case…"

"Uh huh… And he was in your bedroom… why?" The younger girl asked, obviously suggesting something. I was slightly curious as to the origins of that little fact myself so I thought it best if I just stood back and let the girls have at it.

"Because Benedict was sleeping in there with him." The elder replied quickly. "I told you, didn't I? We were paired on a case where we were given charge of a little boy. He refused to speak and was the only witness to a triple murder. Sherlock was the only one who could decipher the evidence while I was the only logical choice to keep watch over the boy and try to get him to talk."

"Oh, I see." Ana nodded and looked at Sherlock. "Did the case turn out alright?"

"Well, after a fight between me and Sherlock-"

"Sherlock and I." Sherlock muttered. "Americans and their grammar."

"Fine. After a fight between _Sherlock and I_," Zoey huffed, "He shouted for us to stop. After that, he was more open. He still didn't talk much but he was a very bright and sweet child."

"Clever, that one." Sherlock agreed.

"He was very well behaved." I chimed in. "I got to take of him once or twice. He was very obedient and well behaved. I was surprised he recovered to his situation so quickly."

Zoey shot me a look at was almost sadness as she remembered the past weeks. I was surprised when she pulled folded papers from her sweatshirt pocket, looking down at them in her hands. "He was the strongest person I have ever met, Ana. The things he went through before we found him; the things he saw…"

"What happened?" Ana leaned against the wall nearby and looked at the papers then up at Zoey. "Did the case end alright?"

Zoey's thumbs rubbed the creased papers as she opened them and looked down at the top page. I couldn't see what was on it that she was staring at, but her eyes began to glisten with forming tears. "Yeah… It ended okay. His father… Or the man who he was raised to think was his father, came to take him from us. He was the one who had killed his mother, real father, and the wife of his father in front of him. He had a gun.."

"A gun? What the hell was he going to do taking him from you with a gun?" Ana shouted, making the people nearby glance over before going about their way.

"He wanted to kill him. He tried to kill him before but the mom had gotten in the way."

"Oh, god…" Ana breathed.

"So Sherlock hid Ben while I tried to hold him off." She smiled bitterly and held up her still bandaged arm. "It didn't go so well."

"You got shot again?" Ana stared. "Hell, Zo. I just thought it was an injury you got while working. I didn't think you'd pull another hero move and almost get yourself killed!"

"Hey! At least it wasn't as bad this time!" She fired back. "The man's aim sucked."

"So you got shot. Again. What happened then?"

"His real family came and took him home." Zoey said simply, looking down at the letter again. I wondered if it was the same one that Sherlock had been sent. "From what I know, he's doing fine."

She caught me looking and handed the letter to me. As Ana quizzed Zoey on the case more, I was able to look at the pages.

It was a nice little update on how Benedict was responding to his new life. He was already learning to read, mentioning wanting to read on his own the stories Zoey had written and had been reading to him. It told how Steven was teaching him to play catch and how they both got along perfectly. He had cried a few times, missing his mother but continuously asked when they could visit "Aunt Zoey". Along with the letter was several crayon drawings like Sherlock had received. These ones were different, however.

Sherlock's pictures had been, what we had guessed, to be Sherlock being a detective with Ben behind him; either being protected or helping. There had been another where Sherlock had been dancing with Zoey; at least that's what I could make out in it.

In Zoey's pictures, she and Ben were holding hands; beside them was an oddly colored dog. Somehow I suspected it had some sort of meaning to them. In the next picture was Ben being hugged by Zoey, her wrist scribbled with red crayon. No doubt he had drawn it to make show that she had been shot. Surprisingly, there was a lot of blood in the picture. Most kids avoid putting so much. Sherlock was there as well, holding a flower. All of the petals had been colored black except for one which had been left white.

"You never answered my question!" Ana's voice snapped me out of my analyzing and made me look up at the trio. Zoey seemed to be starting to become rather flustered as she tried to stop her sister. "Back in Zo's flat."

Sherlock had a rather impish grin on his face as he leaned over Zoey and took hold of her arm, pulling it away from her sister. "Oh yes. I never got to finish. Zoey, dear, be careful with that hand or you'll damage it further." Zoey turned and glared at Sherlock, unable to break free but her cheeks still flushed with his tone of voice. It was a deep purr and very close to her ear. "Why I prefer Zoey as opposed to your shorter 'Zo' is due to the fact that the number of syllables rolls off the tongue much nicer when in the act of-"

Zoey's other hand shot up to try and cover his mouth but missed, being caught by Sherlock's free hand as he merely grinned. Ana had a large grin plastered to her own face, taking in all the supposed "scandalous" details of her sister's "love live". I could tell he was toying with the two girls.

"When in the act of conversation." He finished. Ana's face fell a little with disappointment and Zoey just glared at him. He smirked and released her. "What did you think I was going to say? After all, nothing of romantic nature happened between us while we held the ruse of being married. Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Ana, but nothing of premarital nature occurred during our time alone together."

"Well that's a bummer." Ana huffed before turning her attention down the hallway slightly. "Oh! Professor Roylott."

An older man looked up at us and waved, smiling at the young McCarron. "Ah, Analise, how are you doing today?"

"Just showing my sister and her friends around. They wanted to see if they could figure out what happened… you know…"

"To Rachel. Yes… She was a bright girl, that one. She was going places, that's for sure." He looked at Zoey and held out his hand. I noticed it was his left hand; probably because he noticed Zoey's right. She took it and he turned to Sherlock and I. "I haven't seen you two around before. I am Professor Roylott. I teach Zoology and Native history around the world."

"Australian natives to be precise." Sherlock corrected as he took the instructor's hand. Still the left one. It seemed a bit strange that he hadn't switched to the more normal hand for greeting. When the man merely nodded in amazement, Sherlock continued. "You know much about animals and insects, as is your field of study, but the most interesting specimens are found in Australia. You also have visited there recently, having a tan that is uncommon for this time of year; especially this area. Now as for the most obvious clue: you have an aboriginal tattoo on your left wrist; here." He flipped the man's hand over and pointed to the fading ink. "No doubt you have been there several times in your life."

"You've very observant, sir. I was actually born there. My family moved here when I was still a child but I always kept it close to my heart. I've taken my son with me in the past, although he won't be coming with me on future visits." I heard his voice drop a bit and his body tense as he spoke, catching him looking the two girls beside us over. "You don't miss much do you, mister…?"

"Holmes." I noticed now that the whole time he had been speaking before, Sherlock had taken an American accent. Probably to blend in more. Americans did seem to have a fascination with foreigners. "And this is Mr. Watson."

"Hello." I said, holding up a hand as a polite gesture. I would have to practice my American later.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two. Miss McCarron, I'll see you in class and.. I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name." He turned to Zoey.

"I'm Zoey McCarron, Ana's older sister."

"Elder." Sherlock mumbled, earning an elbow from Zoey.

"Well, it was nice meeting you as well, young lady. I had best be off. I'm behind on grading papers as it is." He turned and walked away, Sherlock never taking his eyes off of him as he rounded the corner.

"Well, he seemed pleasant." I said as he neared the door.

Ana nodded and looked over her shoulder. "Usually he's grumpy. I guess that's only when he's in class." She shrugged and looked at Zoey. "He's a good teacher but he's always in a bad mood. Probably because his son died not too long ago."

"Really?" Sherlock's interest piqued as he opened the door for all of us to pass through. Before Ana could reply, our attention was diverted to flashing lights and students rushing towards them and the building they were close to.

"What happened?" Zoey asked as we ourselves headed toward the ambulance. A medic was rushing to get the building door as a gurney was rolled out, a student strapped to it. Lily was following and turned to scan the crowd. She suddenly pushed her way through students and practically fell into Sherlock.

"Lily?" Ana asked as she watched them roll the gurney through the students, pushing them aside to get back to the ambulance. "what's wrong? Who is it?"

She was out of breath and her words took away Zoey's beside me. "It's Danni!"


	5. Blank

Chapter Five: Blank

"What?" I hear a female voice squeal in terror as both women beside us took off into the crowd. I followed close behind as they shoved their way through the mass of students and other onlookers.

A security guard held out his arm to stop Ana but Zoey grabbed hold of his arm and spun him around, making it possible for Ana to run into the ambulance doors in time and go with Danni.

"That's my sister!" She said as in defense he also spun and grabbed her arms behind her back. To my surprise, she didn't pull rank as a police officer; granted she was London branch and held no authority here. Neither did she struggle to get free. Instead, I made my way over to her as she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let her legs give out under her as a sob escaped her throat. "That's my baby sister…"

Once she buckled, the guard carefully lowered her onto the ground and slowly released her, allowing me to take my place beside her. She was staring at the ground as the sirens faded off into the distance. Even when my hand touched her shoulder she didn't respond. "Zoey?"

"Danni… Not Danni…" was all I could hear her mumble as she closed her eyes tight, tears rolling down her face. Perhaps it was best that she hadn't gone along with the medics. "Why?" She turned and looked over at me, but her eyes weren't focused on me as she asked that question. She was facing me, yes. She said it loud enough for only I to hear, yes. But if I was correct and no one had moved, she was staring past me and looking directly at Sherlock.

"I don't know," I answered anyway. I knew she needed the comfort as I wrapped my arms around her and helped her to her feet. "But until we find out what happened to her, there's nothing anyone can do. Do you want to meet up with them at the hospital?" Good, she responded with a nod. At least she wasn't completely lost. "You're in shock. Come on, let's sit you down for a bit."

Lily was standing beside Sherlock, a hand over her mouth as the other gripped her arm. She looked as though she was regretting telling us who the medics were whisking away. With the way her friends had responded, I can't say that I blamed her.

Sherlock, however, just stared off in the direction we had come from, his eyes narrow in thought, brow furrowed. "John."

"What is it?" I asked, looking up at him for a moment before I started to sit Zoey down.

"We have to follow them."

"Now? Sherlock, Zoey is in shock. She needs a moment to recover before-"

He walked over and pushed me aside, scooping up the still dazed girl into his arms bridal style with ease. "She can rest at the hospital. I need to inspect that girl before any evidence is tampered with or lost."

He took off walking then, flicking me Zoey's car key as we headed to the parking lot. I followed behind with Lily and as we watched the detective walk briskly and exceedingly determined, we saw Zoey move just a little so as to wrap her arms around his neck and rest her head on his shoulder.

Zoey hadn't uttered since she had collapsed on campus. Lily had been the one to direct me to the hospital, in a very confusing American manner, I might add. Sherlock had sat in the back with Zoey, seeing as how he couldn't seem to release her hand from the collar of his shirt. That being said, he also had to carry her into the building which granted them with unneeded attention.

"Is everything alright, sir?" The nurse at the front desk practically jumped to her feet but remained where she was as Sherlock shook his head.

"We're following someone who just arrived by ambulance. A young girl." He was still using his American accent and refused to put Zoey down even when a young man came over and offered a wheelchair.

"Right. They came in about ten minutes ago. You are…?"

"This is her sister. We're friends of the family." He said as Zoey remained silent and stared ahead, down the hallway and at the doors where doctors were walking in and out.

"Follow me." Another nurse appeared and touched Sherlock's arm to guide him slightly in the direction desired. Lily looked at me and motioned to a nearby chair in the sitting room.

"I'll just wait out here. They don't need a bunch of people gathering around in a panic." She smiled slightly and headed to sit down as I followed Sherlock and the woman in the pink scrubs.

Ana was leaning against the wall beside one of the rooms, several doctors and nurses alike buzzing about inside as Danni was still being hooked up to machines and monitors. "Zoey!"

Sherlock put Zoey down and the two girls held each other for a moment before either one spoke. "How is she?"

"I don't know. They were saying things like 'shock' and 'coma' and other big words which have me scared. She hasn't responded since they got her from the campus, Zo. She was unconscious the whole way here and then they ran off with her." Ana was now tearing up as the elevator dinged and a frantic family stepped out.

"Zoey! Ana!" a man's voice called out an instant before their father scooped them into his arms. He was in uniform, no doubt called while on the job. The two girls didn't seem phased by that fact at all, even when his gun holder appeared to jab Zoey in the hip. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah…" Ana replied, nodding and hugging her father tighter.

Zoey was the opposite as she pulled back, smiling slightly as she scratched her head. "I'm fine…" She said softly, making Sherlock raise a brow as he watched.

"What happened?"

"We don't know. One moment we're hanging out in the lounge going to investigate, Danni went with Lily to her dorm… Then the next…" Ana shook her head.

"She was poisoned. Like Rachel." Sherlock said, making all eyes turn to him.

"Poisoned? Danni was?" Edwin asked as he looked at Sherlock and then towards Victoria who was holding both of her boys. Ian understood something bad had happened to his sister and was staring at the door, eyes wide and full of worry. Kayden also was staring towards the door but he seemed to be watching instead of concerning himself with his sister. He was still young so he probably was curious and didn't fully grasp the situation.

"Yes, now if you'll excuse me…" Sherlock mumbled as he moved Zoey out of the way and walked into the room as if he belonged.

I merely looked away as commotion rose from the room bustling with doctors and a now very determined Sherlock. Ana was hugging Ian and Kayden was holding his mother's hand, still staring towards the room. Victoria had Edwin's arm around her as she leaned into his chest, both visibly concerned.

Zoey, was a different matter. She was standing in the middle of the hallway, watching Sherlock push his way about and order people back so he could look. Her eyes were not fully watching him, however. They appeared foggy, distant. She had the same expression that she had back at the college. She was doing the opposite of what she had always done before.

Before, when something happened to one she cared about, she would barrel ahead full of fire and emotions. But here, now, I was seeing something completely different. What I saw now was a Zoey who was pushing aside her normal emotions. Fighting and blocking out the feelings she needed to function. She was shutting down.

"Zoey?" a woman's voice called out, making Edwin turn quickly and Victoria flinch. Ana's head perked up and turned to look at the middle-aged woman rushing out of the elevator and towards the group. They were all off to the side except for Zoey, who hadn't responded. "Oh, Zoey!" Arms were thrown around Zoey in a hug as the woman pulled her close. "There's my oldest baby! I'm glad to see you."

"Mom, Danni…" Zoey said as she turned to look at her mother, only to have her cheeks squished, making talking impossible.

"It's been far too long. We really shouldn't have to meet up like this. Now then, tell me about this boy."

"Boy?" Zoey managed to mumble out between her squished face.

"The one Ana was telling me she saw in your house over webcam! Are you finally working on those adorable little grandchildren?"

"Lynn…" Mr. McCarron tried but was obviously ignored, sighing as he shook his head.

The woman who was apparently oblivious to the situation around her, was now no doubt the McCarron sisters' mother. I could see similarities in the noses and jaw structures. Ana had her mother's eyes. The woman before me was in her fifties but still had brown hair. It was an odd color, almost faded. No doubt she dyed it on occasion.

She was focusing on all the wrong things at present. No doubt she came for her youngest but once she saw Zoey her attention was diverted. She was now ignoring the fact that one of her daughters was dying; although she may have made the decision to leave the doctors alone to do their job; unlike someone else. She was also unaware of the fact that Zoey was in pain since her injured arm was currently being crushed between their two bodies. She was blowing off her ex-husband and his new wife, their two children, and Ana who she no doubt talked to every day, and was focusing on all the wrong things about Zoey.

"Ma'am…" I stepped forward and touched her shoulder in an attempt to release Zoey's pained hand. "My name is Doctor john Wats-"

"Oh, my! A doctor! Good choice, my dear." She released Zoey and nudged her slightly, smiling at her. "You must be the young man I've heard so much about. The one from England, correct?"

"Yes, I am from England but I'm not…" Again I was interrupted.

"You are adorable. A handsome doctor and such an attractive accent." She beamed and put a hand on Zoey's stomach, not noticing her flinch. I saw Zoey's muscles tighten and her skin pale at the area grabbed. It was where the scar was. Zoey hadn't said a word in protest as I saw her shut herself down further as a defense mechanism. I wondered if she knew anything about her daughter other than what she chose to remember from when she was younger. "I'm sure you and Zoey will have beautiful grandchildren."

"Madam," a deep voice suddenly said from behind her, making her spin around as Zoey was pulled back away from her and against Sherlock's chest. "While I'm sure your daughter is flattered that you believe her offspring will be of an attractive nature, I'm sure she would rather you call them her children and not grandchildren. Grandchildren are what you desire and it seems a rather selfish act to force something so intimate upon your daughter. Furthermore," I noticed that he had his arm wrapped around Zoey, his hand now resting upon what remained of Moriarty's first true encounter with her. However, Zoey seemed more at ease than she had when her mother had touched her. "Doctor Watson is not the man of which your middle child spoke of but it was I."

Lynn looked Sherlock over and I once more questioned what she saw. I wondered if she noticed Sherlock's protective hold on Zoey or the fact that he was analyzing her every move. I wondered if she noticed that Zoey had almost completely shut down yet seemed aware of Sherlock when she hadn't taken any notice of me. Did she notice the pain her daughter was in as she cradled her wrist gently?

"Well, you are a handsome one as well." She smiled and put her hands on her hips approvingly. "Tall, dark and handsome indeed! I heard that you spent the night at my baby's place then, didn't you?"

"Yes, we did spend some time together in her flat." He replied coldly.

"And I do hope you were a gentleman. What is it you do, Mister…?"

"Yes, I try. And I, Mrs. McCarron, notice that you have just come from lunch. You had a salad and a tomato bisque soup, seeing as there is a hint of spinach between your teeth and a splash of the soup on your blouse. You also recently got your nails done, only a few days old but it's rather pointless if you ask me if you insist on biting your nails despite the fact that such a luxury can be pricy. I can tell that you have two cats and a very energetic dog, either that or an ill behaved one, from the scratch marks and hair covering your arms and clothes. The dog, I deduced that by noticing the faint traces of the leash wrist loop still on your skin. No doubt you took him for a walk during your break. I am a consulting detective. The only one in the world, and I, am Sherlock Holmes."

Everyone was silent. Ana was stunned, their mother was speechless, and Victoria and Edwin merely stared as Ian let his mouth hang open. Kayden was grinning wildly as Zoey turned to look over her shoulder at Sherlock. He glanced down at her and then looked back at her mother.

"I notice everything while you fail to notice the obvious. One: your youngest daughter was poisoned and is currently in the next room fighting for her life. Two: You failed to notice Analise's change of hair color. It's a fairly drastic change as well, no doubt done within the last twenty four hours. Three: You failed to notice that Zoey had a severe injury to her right hand; proven by the fact that you strained it when you forcibly hugged her. That action could have further damaged the wound."

"I… I didn't…" Lynn was stunned and was glad to rush into the room once the doctor's cleared and Okayed it a moment later. The rest of the McCarron's followed except for Zoey who remained with Sherlock and I in the hallway.

"Don't you want to go check in on your sister?" I asked.

"No…" She replied quietly, making Sherlock move around so he was standing before her, a hand cradling each cheek as he looked directly at her.

"Yes, you do. But you can't." He said, locking eyes with hers. "You're not Zoey at the moment. You're not the woman I knew in London. No, you've shut down on me."

"Shut down?" She asked as she looked back at him instead of pulling away like she usually did, or other did. Including me.

"You are ruled by your emotions but aside from the university, you have yet to show even a hint of one. You've blocked feelings from touching you at the moment. No doubt from your worry over your sibling, but still… You've become blank." He frowned. "Even if it is temporary… You've become like me."


	6. Planning

Chapter Six: Planning

Zoey didn't push away from that comment like she had the other times he had accused her of using her feelings. This time, she merely stared back at him, eye welling with tears.

"What am I supposed to do?" She asked quietly. "I always get hurt when I rely on my feelings. It's been proven before. There's nothing that my feelings can do to help Danni right now…"

"You're preparing yourself for the worst." I realized. "You're already responding as if she…"

Zoey looked at me, the tears spilling over. "Don't. Don't go there, John." Her voice had the sting of pain, however small the amount. She was going to hate me, but I knew what I had to do.

"You've shut down as if she's dead, Zoey. You've already written that into your mind. That's why you're acting this way."

"John, stop."

Sherlock must have figured out what I was doing because he let go of Zoey and started to walk away. "There's no point in trying to save her if she's already dead, right?"

"She's not dead yet!" Zoey's voice snapped strongly. I looked at her and she was shaking. She was glaring at Sherlock, hands clenched into fists before she looked toward the crowded room where her sister lay in a coma. "She's not dead and I won't let her die!"

"Good. Now that you're awake, shall we go?" Sherlock had stopped and was looking back at her, a smile in his eyes although it didn't show on his face.

"Go where?" Zoey huffed, trying to hold herself back from punching him.

"To Daniella's dorm room of course. And tell Analise to meet us in her dorm later. I have a feeling what we want will occur once she's returned."

"What will happen?" Zoey asked as I put a hand on her back and helped her walk after the pleased detective. He pressed the elevator button and stood staring at the doors.

"She'll be attacked like Daniella." He said simply as the doors slid open.

In an instant Zoey had run into the lift and pulled Sherlock in, pushing him against the wall as I slid in before the doors closed. Zoey had learned by now and had Sherlock pinned by bracing her forearm across his upper chest so her other arm could recover from her mother. Her fire was back for the moment and with his rather calm matter still intact, it reminded me of a Chihuahua taking on a Great Dane.

"What do you mean 'attacked'? Explain yourself Sherlock!"

"Isn't it obvious?" He looked down at her, over at me, and then back to Zoey before he sighed and stopped the elevator. "You lot are all so slow at times. Most of the time. Actually… I think you two are the brighter of my colleges but still rather dense..."

"Sherlock!" Zoey shouted suddenly, her body tense and eyes closed as she did so. "Just tell me…"

"Right then. Its rather obvious once you take everything into account." He stepped forward easily, pushing Zoey back as he did so. "Consider the first fact: Ana and Rachel were creatures of habit. Perhaps not all the time, but on Tuesdays they always did the same routine. Next: Ana did the spontaneous action of leaving the dorm to go get popcorn and a movie. Surely they normally had one already or Rachel would be the one to fetch the film. Next, Daniella was attacked. Now then, whatever killed Rachel was a fast acting poison. Daniella no doubt, was administered the same. However, unlike Rachel, Daniella was not alone in her room once the poison started taking effect. You can thank Lily for saving her life later."

"My sister is in a coma, Sherlock. Not to mention we don't know who or what poisoned her."

"Yes, but judging from her deterioration, the poison is taking longer to fully effect on her than it did Rachel. Which means, either different poisoned each girl, or it responds differently to each individual."

"But what makes you think Ana is a target?" Zoey asked, hugging herself as she listened to Sherlock. She was breathing slowly in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Because Rachel was an accident. It's always been your sisters. This whole thing has been about getting to them. However, your appearance may have also put you at risk so I think it best if you stay close to Ana."

"I am not sitting out of this just 'cause I'm a target and… wait… Stay with Ana?" Zoey had started to object to what she had thought Sherlock was going to say but suddenly realized what he had truly said.

"Yes, of course. There is no way I could keep you out of danger at this rate; what with your sister fighting for her life. It's much easier if I keep the killer's targets together at all times. It will be a much easier target for him and make it easy to keep an eye on both of you myself as well."

He stopped when Zoey suddenly jumped back against the wall and tried to hide behind me, her eyes wide.

"Whatever has come over you?" Sherlock asked as he looked behind him and around the lift in the area she was pointing. "You can't be serious."

What she was reacting to, was the presence of a small spider on the floor by the corner. After extending his foot and crushing it, Zoey breathed a sigh of relief. However, she remained behind me.

"It's just a spider, Zoey." I looked over my shoulder at her, trying to comfort her. "A dead one now, but still, it was rather small and harmless."

"Quite the opposite, John." Sherlock replied as he observed Zoey still attempt to recover. "From what I gathered, it was what is called a "Hobo" spider. If bitten, it can indeed kill you if given time. Until then, severe tissue damage is inflicted."

I gave Sherlock a look as Zoey gripped my shoulders, no doubt also shooting him a glare. "Not very helpful, Sherlock."

"I've always hated spiders. Size makes no difference." Zoey grumbled. "Now then, why do we need Ana to come to her dorm? Isn't it safer staying at my dad's?"

"Safer, yes. However, helpful? No. We have to make it known that you and Ana will be spending the night in her dorm tonight, in an attempt to get over all that has happened. She can warm back up to her room and you can spend quality time with your sister, while attempting to forget about what is happening at the hospital. That being said; if we can manage to make this information known and keep a watch on that room, the killer is sure to arrive at some point in time."

"How will you know who the killer is? The halls are usually filled with students." Zoey sighed.

"That's true, Sherlock. We can't easily pick out a killer we don't know in a sea of people. Especially when we don't even know how they're administering the poison in the first place." I agreed as I reached over to the controls only to have Sherlock beat me to it and restart the lift.

"Because I already know who I'm looking for."


	7. Observe

Chapter Seven: Observe

Zoey didn't question Sherlock as he finished his statement. She didn't ask who it was either. Instead, she reached out and put a hand on his cheek, stroking his cheek and moving down to his neck before she grabbed him by the throat. He gasped in surprise and pulled her hand off of his neck, only to have her use her other hand and try and choke him with that as well.

I was surprised that her injured hand still had so much stamina and that her non-dominant hand had almost equal grip.

"How long have you bloody known?" Zoey growled as she continued to try and grab Sherlock's throat which was red from her first attack. "How long have you known who tried to kill my sister?"

Sherlock held both of her wrists, putting just enough pressure on the bandaged one to keep her from fighting too strongly. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back as Sherlock coughed and cleared his throat.

"Zoey," Sherlock's voice was slightly distorted from Zoey's grip but he merely swallowed and looked at her. "I knew the moment Danni was attacked."

I felt Zoey jerk forward, attempting yet again to murder the frustrating man before her. "I'll kill you! If she dies, I swear I will hang you with your own scarf and they will never find the body!"

I held on tighter as she squirmed and tried to grab hold of him. "Zoey, calm down. Zoey!"

"He knew! He bloody knew and now she's…" she curled over and let out a sob. It was in anger, frustration, but also in pain. She was scared. Scared to lose her little sister. She felt so helpless, being held in my arms as she cried, unable to do anything to save Danni on her own. But Sherlock was there, almost teasing her with her sister's salvation. He knew the means and probably the cure, yet he had yet to do anything about it. "She's dying…"

Sherlock took a step forward and grabbed her cheeks, cradling them as he tipped her face to look at him. "There she is. There's our Zoey. Now listen carefully. She is dying, yes. But I know how to save her. She's already helped us greatly by ending up in the condition she's in."

"She's in a coma!"

"Yes, but she's not running around screaming. Something poisoned her. It got into her blood. When you're unconscious your heart beats slower than when you're awake. By going into shock and, as a result, a coma, she has managed to slow that process and buy us time."

"If you know who did it, then why haven't you stopped them?" She snapped.

"I need proof. I also need your help. As I have stated before…" He sighed and released her, pushing his hair back as the lift doors opened. Lily was waiting expectantly.

"Oh good! She's not in tears which means that Danni is alright!" She hugged Sherlock, who froze and then tackled Zoey. "I called Jack for you. I figured it was a definite need to know situation."

"Thanks, yeah." Zoey smiled slightly and looked at her phone as she pulled it from her pocket. "I think I'll call and just give Jack the run down in person. Otherwise I'll never hear the end of it." As she started dialing and wandered over to the hospital exit to talk outside I saw Sherlock watch her, with a puzzled look on his face. I could tell he was wondering the same thing I intended to ask Lily.

" Who is Jack?"

"Hm? Oh, Jack is one of Zoey's closest friends. They've been together for, like, ever. Ever since they were in diapers or when their moms were pregnant. Something crazy like that. But they're more than friends, almost. It's like, fate looked down on them and said: those two will be together forever."

"There's no such thing as fate." Sherlock grumbled as he saw Zoey hang up and he followed her out.

Zoey took her keys from Lily and opened her car only to have Sherlock snatch the keys from her. "Hey! You ass!" She tried to get them back but he was holding them well over her head. I was beginning to wonder if all of her hostility didn't stem from a Napoleonic complex.

"If I remember correctly, you are forbidden to drive for several more weeks. You already have stressed your injury more than what it should be and will only hinder proper healing." He smirked slightly and kept his arm raised and the keys far from her reach.

"You think I can't get them?" Zoey huffed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Given your stature in comparison to that of myself, I would say the chances are highly unlikely…" he watched as she climbed onto the hood of her car and stood up, grabbing his hand. "That's real mature, Zoey."

"So is keeping them from me like a teasing five year old." She said back, giving him the smile of that of a snide teenager after a conversation with their parent.

I've heard that opposites attract when it comes to love, which these two were even if neither would admit it… While at their cores, Sherlock and Zoey are indeed different... but their stubbornness is EXACTLY the same.

"Children," I cleared my throat and pried their hands apart, taking the keys from them. "There are more important things to be concerned about. Such as the young girl in a coma, or worrying about-"

"Kayden!" A woman's voice called out suddenly as the young boy ran out in front of an approaching car in the parking lot in order to reach us. The boy didn't stop until he had a tight grip on Sherlock's leg. "You could have been killed!"

"Highly unlikely in this case." Sherlock said as he picked up the boy who grinned.

"It was coming right at him." Zoey protested.

"But it was going slow enough that the driver could stop in time when he saw me." Kayden said quietly making Sherlock ruffle his hair.

"He's right. He has physics on his side in this argument." Sherlock said, looking at Zoey who glared.

"Physics and a child's safety should not have to be argued about in the same conversation." Zoey replied as she took her brother from Sherlock, wincing slightly as she did so. I reached over then and took the boy from both of them.

"Why does Zoey have a weird line on her hand?" Kayden whispered to me as he pointed to Zoey's finger. Her ring finger to be precise where there was a faint mark from where her "disguise" had been.

Sherlock looked at the child and tilted his head ever so slightly, examining the boy's face. "Jayden…"

"Kayden." Zoey corrected.

"Right, Kayden, I have a question for you. You saw your sister, Danni, right?"

Kayden's mother was beside us by now and gave Sherlock a look as the boy was once more handed off. "I really don't think that's something for a little boy to talk about after what he saw…"

"I saw her." The child said quietly.

"Tell me, was there anything on her legs?" Zoey gave Sherlock the same look I probably was. It seemed like such a strange question.

"I doubt he was looking at her legs, Sherlock." I said.

"Come now, John, let me be entertained for once." Sherlock snapped back like an argumentative child. "Did you, Kayden?"

He nodded. "Not on her legs… but on her foot."

"Foot?" His mother asked, looking at her son, confused.

"She had an owie right here." He pointed to his own ankle and looked up at Sherlock. "It was weird. I've never gotten an owie there before…"

"That's because it's a difficult area to inflict such an injury to." Sherlock mused as he took Zoey's keys from me when he saw Lily running out of the hospital to catch up with us. "Come now, John, Zoey. We have a case to solve."

"That's the police's job." Zoey grumbled as I opened the door for her.

"Then text your father. He's most likely a key to this problem and should be involved if he isn't already. After all, his daughter is now a victim."

"Why did you ask Kayden those questions?" Zoey asked as she buckled herself up and Lily hopped in beside her before we headed back to the college. "Victoria would have been more appropriate to ask than him. He's only four."

"Your step-mom, while in age she's the most logical choice, in observation she was not." When none of us responded he sighed deeply and continued. "Kayden didn't have the normal child response to his sister's condition. His brother looked concerned, scared, sad.. While he merely watched what was going on. I noticed that he didn't look concerned but he was also taking everything in." He turned and looked at Zoey, locking eyes with her. "Your brother doesn't only see, he observes. He's clever. Oh, so very clever…" He smirked and looked ahead as he drove us. "He's a lot like me at that age… only more…"

"Human?" Lily offered, earning herself a well deserved cold glance from Zoey.

"Sociable and tolerable?" Zoey asked, a slight smirk making its way onto her face with an air of friendly teasing in her voice.

"I was going to say 'adaptive'… He handled that situation far better than I would have. He observed and managed not to arouse attention or cause trouble as I had a tendency of doing…"

"What do you mean 'had'?" Zoey asked as she looked out her window and rubbed her ring finger absentmindedly.


	8. Inconspicuous

So there we were again, standing in one of the hallways of the college campus as Zoey gave Sherlock a disapproving look and Ana looked like she was going to faint. WE were standing outside Professor Roylott's office and Sherlock was trying to convince the younger McCarron to go along with his plan. Which, at the moment, wasn't working.

"I can't do this... I just cant... I can't go in that room again and with what happened to Danni..."

Sherlock had his arms crossed, a clearly annoyed look etched on his face as he looked at Zoey for some form of assistance. I assumed it was because she was the sibling and would know how to best approach the situation.

"Zoey, please do something to console your sister and explain the severity of the situation at hand." He huffed, earning an unreadable expression from her.

"No... No, I think you got it pretty well covered. Keep going. You're doing a marvelous job." She gave a small nod and looked over at Ana who was leaning against the wall beside the office door, trying to calm her breathing. "After all, using me and my sister as bait to lure out the man who killed her roommate and is currently killing our sister is a perfect plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong!"

Sherlock's eyebrows furrowed as he locked eyes with the smaller woman, mouth set in a firm line. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Zoey."

"And I don't appreciate you risking not only my life, but my sister's to capture this guy."

"You've risked your own life how many times since I've met you?"

"That was my life on my terms. And if I remember correctly, you were firmly against me doing so both times."

He opened his mouth to argue when Ana finally took a deep breath and stood up straight, facing the man who towered over all of us.

"If I do this, will it work? Will it save Danni?" Her voice was quiet and unsure, but I knew the kind of fire her family possessed when necessary.

"If we can discover the truth in time, there may be a chance of stopping the poison's effects and helping her." Sherlock replied flatly. It was as close a comfort they were going to get from him.

Ana looked at Zoey, who nodded the answer to her sister's unasked question as they looked at one another, reading the emotions on eachother's faces. Zoey reached out and opened the office door, making Roylott look up as Ana walked in first, followed by Zoey as Sherlock and I stayed in the hall waiting for them.

"Yes?" The man looked up at the two girls entering, seeming a bit surprised by their appearance. I kept watch from the doorway as Sherlock merely listened.

"I was wondering if I could have next week's homework in advance." Ana said quietly, playing with her fingers as she avoided eye contact.

"Ah, yes. I heard about your sister. I'm terribly sorry about that." He looked down, opening a drawer to rummage through papers. "Will you be showing up to class at all?"

"Probably not." Ana glanced towards the door and Sherlock was looking back at her, giving her a small nod to continue. "I'll only be at school tonight to gather some of my stuff and then I'll be with my sister until they figure out what happened."

"They still don't know? That's a shame. I do hope the doctors find out before things get worse."

Zoey piped up this time, seeing Ana falter. "She'll be fine. I hear the doctors started a drip that seems to be taking effect."

Sherlock raised a brow as Roylott sat up in his seat more, pausing before handing over the papers he had organized for Ana.

"You don't say? Well, best of wishes for a speedy recovery."

Ana took the assignments and smiled as Roylott walked around his desk to put a hand on her shoulder. Zoey watched him, phone falling from her injured hand as a text message shook it free from her grasp. Roylott immediately got down and scooped it up, hand brusing her ankle as he got back up. He smiled as he handed it back, tilting his head as he examined her wrist.

"Your family has a history of misfortune, I see." He chuckled slightly and turned back to his desk.

Ana headed for the door but Zoey reached out and turned a picture frame on his desk towards her slightly. "Is this your son?"

Roylott's attitude changed a bit then, faltering only for an instant. He picked up the frame a little too fast to hide the image from her, holding in to his chest. "Yes, this was my son."

"He looks like you." Zoey said with a smile, motioning to the photograph as she passed me on her way out the door. I nodded a farewell and closed the door, anticipating what was to come.

Zoey immedately took off down the hall in a huff, Sherlock following close behind as Ana walked along side me, not entirely sure what she should do next.

As soon as she was a good distance from the teacher's office and safely outside, Zoey turned and hit a nearby wall with her good hand. I was glad that she was remembering to use the other one less to give it a chance to heal; although punching a solid object was not the best idea either.

"'Your family has a history of misfortune' my ass! He knows something about Danni!" She threw her hands up and growled. "And hes hiding something about his son. He was defensive about that photo, as if I would know everything about it if I got a clear look. Damn it!" Her hands moved to push her hair back as she paced now, talking mostly to herself but also venting to Sherlock. "I want to know what happened to Danni and why and I'm getting a really strong feeling that he knows!"

Ana looked at me and I shrugged, both of us then turning our attention back to the ranting woman and the stationary man merely observing her.

"So, now are you ready to follow my plan with no questions asked?" Sherlock asked, raising a brow at her. Zoey tilted her head, a rather unamuzed expression on her face. "I'm askingbecause you have a habit of arguing with me when I try to get you to follow my instructions."

"I don't argue. I just don't listen to you." She quipped, crossing her arms as she huffed, looking away like a sulking child. Sherlock stared at her, waiting for a proper answer until she finally gave in with a frustrated sigh. "Fine! I won't question what you tell me to do. Okay?"

Sherlock clapped his hands together in success, turning around to look at Ana, clutching the papers still. "Good! Now then, we need to get you back to your dorm for a loveely girls night in. We need your fellow flatmates to be aware of your little female bonding ritual and be convincing. This needs to not seem like a stake out, although that's obviously what it will be. Does that flower girl have a dorm nearby?"

"Flower girl?" Ana looked at Zoey who mouthed 'Lily' to her, making her understand and nod. "Oh, yes. Her room is just down the hall. She shares with Danni actually."

His eyes lit up. "Excellent! That is just splendid! We can search that room while you two stay in Ana's and wait."

"And do what?" Zoey asked, looking like she was already tired of dealing with him. But after all she'd been through I couldn't blame her.

"Whatever it is you women do when you gather together." He waved it off and looked around for a brief moment.

"What are we waiting for?" Ana questioned, looking up at Sherlock.

"For someone to come and try to kill you of course." He stated, furrowing his brow slightly as he looked at the younger girl with a questioning look, as if it were obvious.

Ana's face paled and she dropped the papers, making Zoey shove Sherlock and go to her sister's aid, stooping to pick up the scattered pages.

"Honestly, Sherlock! You have the grace of a newborn giraffe when it comes to people skills!"

"We would obviously interrupt the potential murderer so there's no real danger to either of your lives. Not to mention you two will be together at all times so the chances of being without some sort of defense is unlikely."

"That's not the point, Sherlock!" Zoey started to protest when he held up a finger.

"No questions asked." He said, a small smirk pulling at his lips. I had a sinking feeling that he was going to somehow make Zoey regret agreeing to that oath, if she didn't already.

"I... but..." Zoey looked at him and then at me in mild despiration before giving up. "Fine." She stated firmly, between clenched teeth. "What is the plan?"

"John will meet up with Lily, an encounter I hope you can arrange as she took off into one of the buildings as soon as we returned without even an explaination. Upon doing so, He will pretend to be her cousin in order to gain entrance to her dorm without too much gossip over a strange man in her room." I looked at Sherlock with mild confusion myself, waiting to hear the rest of the plan. "I will escort you and Ana to her dorm so that no one prevents your re-entry. I will then return down the hall to Lily's room where I will say I am a companion of John's helping to manage the stress on Lily that was caused by the attack on Danni. Then, we will merely keep an eye on the hallway and on your door for anyone trying to gain entry and thus, harm you."

Although I doubted we actually needed to have a cover in order to gain entry into Lily's dorm when we could just as easily claim to be aquaintences, it was otherwise a sound plan. Zoey sighed and looked at Ana, who was staring at the assignments in her hands intently. After a moment she spoke.

"These are only one day's assignment... And it's multiple copies."

Sherlock snatched them from her hand, flipping through the pages as he walked off, forcing us to follow.

"Yes, I see now." He muttered before turning to Zoey. "Text your loud companion and tell her to accompany John to her place. I will follow the two of you. Oh, this is interesting."

"Was it a mistake?" Ana asked as Zoey started clicking away on her phone beside her. "Did he just grab the wrong file on accidnet?"

"Hardly. This was an attempt to get you to leave sooner while giving you only what you would need." Sherlock explained as he seperated out the papers, three pages each assignment, three identicle assignments. "I presume he expected you'd return to your dorm and start on the top page, only having enough time to make it through one of them before you noticed the duplicates."

"So he's predicting her death then?" I asked, noticing a familiar face come running out of a distant building towards us.

"Or at least an unfortunate occurance similar to that of Danni's." Zoey chimed in. "He knows something is going to happen to us."

Sherlock nodded. "And his unusual behavior with the photograph leads me to believe that his son has something to do with all this."

"Great. This is all just peachy." Zoey shook her head as Sherlock glanced at her, seeming to recognize something familiar about that statement; although I was clueless to the origin. "So what do we do? Just sit around and do nothing while we wait to be killed?"

"Precisely." Sherlock nodded as Lily stopped beside him, panting.

"You needed me?"

Sherlock gave a small nod. "Yes, take John here back to your dorm. He will look over the room until I join you. Stay there. Do you understand? You're to have a night in."

Lily looked at Ana and Zoey and then at me, beaming up at me. "Anything I can do to help. Come along then, Johnny boy!" She grabbed my arm and started pulling me along. "We're off to solve a murder!" For one so small, she was certainly using her energy every way possible, as she was stronger than I had first anticipated, stumbling behind her.

Looking back at Sherlock, he was handing back the papers to Ana and then turned to follow us to the dorms.

I stood outside in the hall as Lily taked with a neighboring girl, arms holding school books and both chatting about the end of semester final project. I didn't mind the wait, as it gave me a chance to keep watch over the trio down the hall. Ana had looked around nervously as she walked down the corridor, as if inspecting the surroundings for booby traps. Zoey was talking with Sherlock a few steps behind. When he responded, his voice had changed slightly, speaking with an American accent once more.

"You could just go to Lily's room and wait with John, you know." I heard Zoey say, a bit irritated but also sounding like he was going out of his way to help. I could tell she appreciated tha much at least. He was making an effort.

"After what heppened to her roommate and to your sister, I couldn't just let you two go alone." He said sweetly, getting looks from nearby students hanging around; going in and out of their own rooms for whatever reasons they had.

"Well, thank you for your concern." They were playing off one another now, blending in. I watched as Ana unlocked the door. "I'll keep in touch all night just to be safe. Keep your phone on."

"Be sure that you do. Or else I'll have to come looking for you." He threatened playfully. I could see some of the girls nearby looking on with interest and I myself was curious as to what would happen between the two of them as they appeared to be in a mock relationship.

Ana heard Sherlock's threat and turned around to look at them, Zoey standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"Come on, sis." Ana smiled, the first real smile I'd seen from her all day, as she gestured into the room with a small jerk of her head. "You can flirt anytime. Girl's night is more important right now anyway." Good, she remembered to stay with the plan.

Sherlock looked at Ana with a slight smile. "She'll be there in just a moment." And with that said, he grabbed Zoey's shoulders and pushed her against the wall, his body following a second later.

It was quite an interesting sight for m to actually witness such an action by Sherlock. His hips pinning her to the wall as one hand remained on her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek as his lips caught hers before she could protest.

Not that she did.

Instead, her hands shot up and grabbed hold of his face, kissing back eagerly. She pulled him down closer to her level as her sister looked on from the doorway, with wide eyes, mouth open.

They parted as Lily turned around behind me, letting out a groan of disappointment.

"What did I miss? I just missed something, didnt I?"

I merely shook my head as Sherlock Kissed Zoey's forehead quickly before walking back towards me, Ana still standing dumbfounded as Zoey turned and shoved her into the dorm.


	9. Stakeout

"Mind explaining why you found it prudent to make such a spectacle of yourself in the hallway just now?" I asked, leaning against Lily's desk as Sherlock sat in the swivel chair beside me, crossing his legs and pressing his fingertips to his chin.

"It was a ruse to blend into the horomone controled life of a university student and their significant other, obviously." Sherlock replied, staring blankly at the door which we just entered from.

"What specatcle?" Lily asked, plopping down cross legged on her bed. "What did i miss in the hall? What'd he do?"

"He kissed Zoey." I replied, not taking my eyes off of the now brooding man. "And now we are waiting for God only knows what."

Sherlock rocked the seat side to side slightly as he kept his eyes locked on the only entrance and exit to our room. "It's simple, John. We're waiting for the girls to be attacked once again."

"Normally you would try to keep Zoey from situations like this." I pointed out, looking at Lily, who was staring wide eyed at Sherlock.

"You kissed Zoey?"

"Yes, but seeing as her relatives are the current targets there was no way I was going to keep her out of this even if i attempted." Sherlock replied simply. "She would have ignored my every order, as usual." He growled out the last half of that sentance with frustration. "But i do believe that now that she has made herself and her connection to her sisters known, she will become a target as well. So there is only the one solution to her current predicament: put her out in the open and wait for the killer to come to us."

I shook my head. "Sherlock, he won't come to us. He'll come to Zoey and Ana. If we really wanted him to come to us, we'd be there with them."

"Ah, yes, but there is where the flaw in your reasoning is, John." Sherlock kicked his foot to the side and sent himself spinning around to face me. "If we were there with them, the killer wouldn't take the chance of another mistake. He needs only his target in the room. It's quite possible that his method of killing is one that needs a clear target. In fact, im sure of it. And i'm posititve that one or both of those girls down the hall are now marked for death."

"Why did he kiss her?" Lily asked, ignored for a second time.

"If they're marked, then thats even more reason to have our eyes on them, rather than being down the hall, Sherlock!" I groaned, rubbing my temples. "If this is as serious as you make it out to be..."

"Of course it is serious." Sherlock spun back towards the door. "One girl is dead and another in a coma. Don't be so dense."

I opened my mouth to reply but Sherlock leapt up and grabbed a nearby object off the desk, smoothly flipping it around with a turn of his wrist to hand it to Lily. Once he stopped moving, i realized it was her laptop.

"I'm quite sure you all webchat from time to time?" Sherlock asked as he looked up toward the door yet again, the muscles in his body practically coiled to leap out and down the hall once given the signal."Or you at least know their usernames?"

Lily flinched slightly in surprise at the sudden action but nodded. "Yeah, Ana messages me late at night over homework sometimes."

"Good. Now initiate contact with her. We need to know what's going on in that room without actually being in the room."

She nodded and started typing and clicking breifly before setting the computer on the bed beside her, facing Sherlock and myself as the webcam activated. Ana's face appeared and she examined the screen on her end for a moment before moving back, still looking pale and uneasy.

"Hey, Lil." She said, her voice allowing the fear to sneak in slightly as she spoke.

"How are you two fairing?" Sherlock asked, more for an update than out of concern. "Anything out of the ordinary occur yet?"

Zoey's voice could be heard in the background, although she was somewhere off screen. "If there was anything to report, we'd have let you know already." She was frustrated, i didnt have to see her face to know that much. "What are we even looking out for? A needle? a powder or liquid poison? A little hint would be helpful when we're the bait!"

"The poison wasn't transmitted through those obvious scources. if they had, your police force no doubt would have found it during their destructive raid earlier." Sherlock sat back down in the chair and slowly spun back and forth at a steady pace, almost like a clock ticking. "No... it was injected, however. But not through a needle."

Zoey groaned and muttered something as she could be heard walking through the room. Ana watched her sibling for a time before looking back at the screen. "Sherlock, are you sure that this will help? Will doing this save Danni?"

He was quiet for once, and i could only assume that he was attempting to word the answer in a way that wouldn't cause Zoey to charge down towards us to kill him and destroy his plan. "I'm positive that this will help identify the culprit. However, I have no garentee that this will result within the timeline that Danni's poison is taking effect."

Zoey's spoke up, talking more to Ana than to us. "Its because poison varries from person to person. It's not just the stregnth of the poison or the dose. How big a person is and how fast they motabilize the toxin is also a key factor."

"But," Ana looked helplessly at her sister and then at the screen, staring back at us with an expression that was begging for a glimpse of hope. "You know what did it, right? What kind of poison she has in her?"

Sherlock put his fingers to his chin once more and stopped spinning, glancing at the screen. "If i knew specifics, she would be in much better condition than she is now. I know how she was poisoned but i dont know exactly by what." As I watched, he pulled out his phone and seemed to search for something, scrolling and swiping quickly as he scanned.

I moved to sit down beside Lily, who was sitting quietly for once as we spoke. She kept her eyes on the screen, as if trying to find the right words to comfort her friends. I decided to try and change the subject and at least get their minds off of another possible death. "Zoey, how is your wrist doing? I noticed that it got pinned earlier back at the hoospital."

Zoey was now in view of the camera, although a fair distance back. i took it that Ana was sitting at her desk and Zoey was simply pacing the room as they waited. She looked down at her hand and made a fist before extending her fingers again. I saw a slight wince as she did so but didn't say anything about it.

"I'm alright. It's just tender." I saw her fix the bandage slightly as she looked up towards her sister and the camera. "I'm trying really hard to let it heal properly."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Trying to give your wrist a chance to heal by strangling Sherlock in the lift?"

"That was my exception!" She shot back defensively, pointing at me. "He had it coming and you know it."

My eyes moved towards Sherlock, who's eyebrow twitched slightly but he refused to reveal his feelings on that statement at the time. "You're lucky you didnt further damage it." She waved me off and i couldn't help but sigh. Stubborn. "Does it hurt? How tender is it?"

"It's aching. Kinda dull but radiating." Zoey rotated her wrist to test it and i saw another wince. "I have pain pills but I left them back at the house..."

The girl beside me piped up as she scrambled herself off the matress beside me. "I have some you can have. It won't ruin the stakeout too much if you leave the room for a few minutes to come and get them, right?"

Sherlock closed his eyes, brows knitting together as he sighed. "Make it quick. And pass a book over as well. It will give the illusion of exchanging exam necessities."

Zoey disappeared from the screen once more, leaving the door open ever so slightly as she exited the room. In moments there was a knock and Lily was at the door with a small bottle for her.

"Here. Two usually do the trick for me but sometimes three works as well." Lily handed the small container over, putting it in Zoey's left hand as she was now avoiding using it. No doubt from the pain she had caused by putting it through more strain than was good for it.

"Have either of you changed clothes or washed yourselves since leaving Roylott's office?" Sherlock asked as he remained still, only his eyes moving as they opened and examined the woman in the doorway.

"We haven't had time." She replied as she allowed me to quickly rewrap the injury. It was slightly inflamed but from all it had endured lately, it was to be expected. Otherwise, it seemed to be healing properly. "And right when we did get time and privacy for us to do so, you decided to ring us up on the webcam. Kinda hard to have privacy to change when youre being monitored."

"What, you worried we'll peek?" Sherlock scoffed, turning around so his back was to her. "John is hardly the type to do such a thing. He's too much the gentleman to even consider it. And you have nothing of interest for me. The human body itself only interests me in the ways that it can assist me to solving a case. The differences between the sexes are but minor details. I would consider you the same if you were standing before me naked or as you are now."

Zoey simply pursed her lips and raised her brow slightly as she turned to return to her sister's room. "I bet you were a blast to have in the classroom during sex ed."

"In my experience, sex is good for nothing more than exchanging genetic material in which to procreate and further increase the human population, or be a needless and often troublesome distraction that results in nothing but trouble either way."

"You'll never fully know until you experience it first hand instead of jus observing others." Zoey replied, a taunting tone to her voice as she headed back down the hall. No sooner had Lily closed the door, than Zoey was once again opening her's.

"Sherlock sure seems like a ray of sunshine to have around." Ana said as Zoey sat down on the bed behind her.

The elder girl shook her head as she popped off the bottle's lid and swallowed two of the pills before replacing the cover. "He definately keeps you on your toes. You're never bored." A small smile crossed her lips as she reached for a nearby water bottle of the bedside table.

Something caused the girl to look down, suddenly draining all color from her face as she dropped the water bottle and followed the reflex with screaming. Ana spun around and followed her gaze, also starting to shriek as she jumped back and against the desk, causing her laptop to shake from the impact.

Lily grabbed hold of her screen, trying to get a responce from either girl without success. "Ana? Zoey? What's going on? You guys okay?"

Sherlock was already out the door with me not faar behind, both rushing towards the sound of panicked chaos.


	10. Stripping and revenge

The door flew open as Sherlock slammed his body against it, not bothering with the few extra seconds using the handle would take. I was only moments behind him as we rushed into the room which was quickly desending into uncontrolable chaos.

Ana was on top of her desk as much as she could manage, the leg that wouldn't fit up with her was on the chair nearby. Her fingers gripped the ledge for dear life as tears streamed down her face, screaming.

Zoey was in just as much distress as her sister as she screamed and hopped about, kicking one of her legs in an attempt to shake something off. She leapt up onto the bed and, faster than i thought possible, had removed her jeans and flung them across the room.

"Where's my gun? Where's my bloody gun?!" She shrieked, looking about desperately although she didn't even have a gun on her to begin with.

The girls were nearly unconsolable as Ana sobbed in terror as far off the ground as she could manage and Zoey appeared unable to hold still for a second as she kept moving her feet around and spun quickly in her search for a weapon. Her arms were tense against her torso, hands waving around wildly as she continued to scream.

Sherlock walked quickly over to Zoey and grabbed hold of the half naked woman, wrapping his arms around her legs and pulling back in order to throw her down onto the bed. She was stunned only momentarily, holding her breath in surprise as Sherlock moved again to examine her ankles. Zoey kicked up at him in her attempt to scramble back up and Sherlock allowed her to continue her movement as he avoided the blow and changed his focus to where the discarded trousers now lay in a small pile against the wall.

I watched all of this and had no idea which direction would be the most helpful for me to go. I finally decided to console Zoey as she sat up and nearly fell off the bed in her attempt to distance herself from her trousers.

I managed to grab her shoulders and push her back onto the covers, where she stood on the bed, grabbing the sheets and shaking them out untill she was satisfied she was safe. "What on Earth?"

She stood in the center of her elevated island and gestured towards where Sherlock was now crouched beside the item of clothing. "Giant. Bloody. Spider!" Her words were obviously strained to sound as calm as she could manage and she deliberately made each word very clear. "There was a huge ass spider on my leg and it wouldn't let go and i thought i was gonna die and... i'm in my underwear right now, aren't i?"

There was her moment of clarity; standing on a bed with no trousers on and a halfway destroyed dorm room with her sister still in hysterics on the desk across from us. Somehow, it seemed somewhat fitting for her.

"Um, yes... You are in your underwear but more importantly, are you alright?"

"Of course she's alright," Sherlock grumbled as he paused for a moment. "If she wasn't you'd be treating her and I wouldn't be over here with the murder weapon."

"What weapon?" I had to ask. The words escaped my mouth before I could stop my curiousity.

"Grab a bowl." Sherlock motioned toward the small pile of dishes and i complied, handing one to him as i stood a few steps back, watching curiously as I heard movement from the girls behind us. He held it in his hand, weighing it breifly before he reached out and lifted the jeans up off of the floor, a dark object falling off only to be quickly covered by the dish. Letting out a satisfied sigh, Sherlock turned to look at me, hand firmly holding the bowl securely against the carpet. "Behold, the weapon used to poison Rachel and Danni. Hadronyche modesta."

"What's that?" Zoey asked as she pulled her shirt down in the front in an attempt to cover up before settling for holding a pillow in front of her. Ana had quieted down but still refused to leave her sactuary.

"The thing that leaves no doubt for who the culprit is." He turned back to the bowl and grabbed several papers so as to counter the arachnid's weight with the thickness of the paper as he slid it under the bowl and scooped it up for transport. Before i could protest, he had handed off the creature to me. "I'd keep that well sealed if i were you, John. Now, Ana and Zoey, follow me."

"I'm not wearing any pants!" Zoey exclaimed as Ana slowly slid off her perch, keeping her eyes firmly on my hands as she moved. Her objection didn't appear to phase him in the slightest.

"Then put some on and hurry. No doubt he's on his way off campus as we speak." Lily was standing helplessly and confused in the doorway as Sherlock walked by. "Oh, and Lily, you probably should contact the police and demand Lieutenant McCarron be present." I heard him call down the hallway, refusing to stop and wait for any of us. "You too, John. Bring the evidence with you!"

We caught him halfway to the parking lot. Roylott was walking briskly across the courtyard and stopped dead in his tracks when Zoey called out to him.

"Yo, Proffessor, I think you dropped something." she had recovered from her fear earlier and now walked with a determined fire. I would doubt if violence wasnt on her mind. "And by something, i mean your giant ass spider."

His body stiffened, deciding whether or not he should try and run. I had a feeling i knew what method he would chose to go with in this moment and was not disappointed. He was going to continue and feign innocence for as long as he possibly could.

"Ah, Miss McCarron... what are you talking about?" He turned and looked at her as she approached, myself being a few steps behind.

"Oh, so you're not missing an Australian funnel-web spider?" Sherlock asked as he walked towards the teacher from the opposite direction to surround the man. Ana stood off to the side behind him, merely observing at this point. "How odd, because I do belive this particular arachnid belongs to you."

He chuckled and turned to face Sherlock. "What would I be doing with a funnel-web of all things? Don't you know how dangerous those can be?"

"Yes, I do. I am just as aware of what they are capable as you apparently are, sir." Sherlock smirked, havin caught the man in his own figurative web. "As someone so acquainted with its native continent, surely there's no way you didn't know if its existance or capabilities."

"I don't know what you're talking about." he replied, clutching to his breifcase defensively. "Why would I be missing such a creature and not be aware of it? Do you find me to be that careless?"

"No. But I do find you to be deliberate. For instance, you provided Ana with three copies of one assignment instead of the ones she requested. A teacher such as yourself should have been aware of your mistake. You've seen her during class ad knows that she never checks the handouts shes given but simply takes them home and does them in the order the papers are organized. You didn't know she'd drop the stack and notice the discrepency, did you?" He continued without leaving room for him to interject. "No, of course not. That was one of your many flaws. You assumed."

"This is where it gets interesting. You somehow figured out Ana's schedule and her dorm room, along with her younger sister, Danni's. No doubt you simply checked school records. But why would you do such a thing? You're not the type of man to stalk your students. No, such a depravity would be beneith you. But revenge isn't."

Roylott bristled at that. "What could those wonderful girls have done that i would want revenge on them? They never caused me any trouble."

Sherlock tilted his head slightly. "No, they didn't do anything. But you felt their father did."

"Dad?" Ana spoke up, taking a step closer. "What could Dad have done?"

"He had your son killed." Sherlock stated flatly, making both girls flinch defensively. "Isn't that right? He had your son killed and so what better way to exact revenge than by killing his children as well?"

The man straightened as he faced Sherlock, no longer pretending ingorance. "He murdered my boy! He gave the order that killed him!" He spun around to look at Zoey. "So, yes. I concocted this plan once i realized who his daughters were. What luck that they would be right here in my school. My very class even!" He looked at Ana and then at Zoey, hearing the same sirens in the distance that we did. "He needs to know the pain i went through. The pain i still go through!"

"Killing us won't bring your son back!" Zoey snapped, pointing off towards the approaching squad cars. "Killing anyone doesn't bring them back. It doesn't suddenly make the pain go away. All revenge does is cause more pain! It doesn't solve anything!"

"It may not bring Matthew back, but at least I'll know that he is suffering too!" Roylott threw down his breifcase and charged at Zoey. What he was planning to do now, I had no clue but that didn't stop me. I darted forward, dropping the bowl as I grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, following that movement with my free arm to punch Roylott back.

He staggered, stunned as the bowl hit the ground and papers scattered. The large spider hit the pavement and quickly recovered from the fall, running directly to the proffessor as he recovered from the blow to his face. He didn't see the creature scurry over his foot and it wasn't until it was in his pant leg that he started to react to remove it. Sherlock watched, unmoving as the man panicked, Ana covering her eyes and turning away.

Zoey simply remained where she was with my arm securely around her, watching as the man fell to the ground to roll up his pant leg, several bleeding pucture marks already present.

"Don't panic." Her words were surprisingly cold, the look in her eyes unreadable as the man continued to squirm and stop the continued assault by the threatened arachnid. "You'll only make the poison work faster."


End file.
